Creighton Abrams

Creighton Abrams (15 September 1914-4 September 1974) was a general of the US Army who served as the commander of MACV from 1969 to 1972 and was Chief-of-Staff from 1972 to 1974. He commanded the American forces in the Vietnam War at the time of Vietnamization and saw the repulse of the Easter Offensive with only a few US ground troops and US air power.

Biography
Creighton Abrams was born on 15 September 1914 in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States. During World War II, he served in the US 4th Armored Brigade at the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944-early 1945 and was promoted to colonel in the last year of the war. In early 1945 he assisted in the relief of Bastogne from German forces, winning the battle for General George S. Patton's US Army. From 1953 to 1954 he commanded three corps in South Korea at the end of the Korean War and led US troops in Europe during the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1967 he was appointed as the deputy of General William Westmoreland, commander of the MACV US forces in South Vietnam at the time of the Vietnam War. In 1969, he succeeded Westmoreland as the leader of the MACV and led US troops in the war against North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. At the time that he took command, President Richard Nixon began to pull out US troops from the war, and Abrams was a genius in fighting a winning war while also pulling out his men. In 1972 he aided in the defeat of the North Vietnamese Army Easter Offensive with limited US troops and USAF air support, but in August of 1972, MACV and its affiliates were disbanded as the United States withdrew the last of its major forces in Vietnam (only 50 troops remained in 1973). He returned home to a hero's welcome and became Chief-of-Staff of the US Army, serving until his death in 1974 of smoking issues. The M1 Abrams tank, invented in 1980, was named for him.